Milton: Political WritingsJohn Milton was not only the greatest English Renaissance poet but also devoted twenty years to prose writing in the advancement of religious, civil and political liberties. The height of his public career was as chief propagandist to the Commonwealth regime which came into being following the execution of King Charles I in 1649. The first of the two complete texts in this volume, The Tenure of Kings and the Magistrates, was easily the most radical justification of the regicide at the time. In the second, A Defence of the People of England, Milton undertook to vindicate the Commonwealth's cause to Europe as a whole. They are central to an understanding both of the development of Milton's political thought and the climax of the English Revolution itself. This is the first time that fully annotated versions have been published together in one volume, and incorporates a wholly new translation of the Defence. The introduction outlines the complexity of the ideological landscape which Milton had to negotiate, and in particular the points at which he departed radically from his sixteenth-century predecessors. Further aids to students include a full chronology of Milton's life and events, a select bibliography and biographies of persons mentioned in the text. |
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Page xi
... person , and this accordingly became the focus of his attack . Much of The Tenure is taken up with exposing this inconsistency . Milton's animus against the Presbyterians is best encapsulated by his repeated allusions to a speech in ...
... person , and this accordingly became the focus of his attack . Much of The Tenure is taken up with exposing this inconsistency . Milton's animus against the Presbyterians is best encapsulated by his repeated allusions to a speech in ...
Page xii
... persons : while resistance to tyrannical rule by inferior magistrates was lawful , it was never lawful for private persons to take any political initiative whatsoever . From the Presbyterian point of view , its immediate relevance was ...
... persons : while resistance to tyrannical rule by inferior magistrates was lawful , it was never lawful for private persons to take any political initiative whatsoever . From the Presbyterian point of view , its immediate relevance was ...
Page xiii
... persons , the fact of their having received an extraordinary calling from God meant that they should be seen as possessing an authority surpassing even that of the ordinary magistrate . Thus when Milton chooses the story of the slaying ...
... persons , the fact of their having received an extraordinary calling from God meant that they should be seen as possessing an authority surpassing even that of the ordinary magistrate . Thus when Milton chooses the story of the slaying ...
Page xv
... persons because they had been directed by God in what they did was to miss the point that the rightness of such actions was capable of being intuited in the ordinary way by any rational individual . All this amounted to a decisive break ...
... persons because they had been directed by God in what they did was to miss the point that the rightness of such actions was capable of being intuited in the ordinary way by any rational individual . All this amounted to a decisive break ...
Page xvi
... person or many ( kings and magistrates respectively ) . But the status which these rulers enjoyed as the result of this transaction could be no greater than that of ' Deputies and Commissioners ' who had merely been ' intrusted ' with ...
... person or many ( kings and magistrates respectively ) . But the status which these rulers enjoyed as the result of this transaction could be no greater than that of ' Deputies and Commissioners ' who had merely been ' intrusted ' with ...
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amongst ancient anointed Aristotle army assert authority bishops Bracton Caesar called certainly chapter Charles Christ christians church Cicero citizens civil command committed common commonwealth condemned consul council Covnant crimes David death deed defend Defensio depos'd depose divine edition Eglon emperor enemy English evil father foreign granted hand hath Hence History honour John Milton Josephus judge judgement justice killed king of England king's kingdom kingship laws liberty Lord magistrates Marcus Marcus Aurelius matter ment Milton monarchy murder nations nature Nero no-one oath opinion parliament parliament of England Politics pope praise Presbyterians priests prince Protestant public enemy published punishment reason refers Rehoboam reply resistance right of kings Roman Roman senate royal power royal right rule ruler Sallust Salmasius sanhedrin Scripture senate slavery slaves summoned supreme sword Tacitus therfore things thir tyranny tyrant Valentinian III whole wicked wish words Zwingli